


I'd Tell You To Stop (But I Really Don't Want You To)

by bazaar



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, roommate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-06 06:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3125036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bazaar/pseuds/bazaar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami likes to exercise her mind. Korra just likes to exercise. In a 500 square foot apartment, the two don't exactly mix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'd Tell You To Stop (But I Really Don't Want You To)

**Author's Note:**

> I've lost control of my life and I apologize for that. This is my first LoK story, and my first on AO3.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own _The Legend of Korra_ (and I never will)

It's not that Asami has a _problem._

Okay, scratch that—she has a _huge_ problem with the fact that Korra has this compulsion, this ever-present _need_ to work out every single day. Korra only ever laughs when Asami complains about the fact that she's doing crunches half-naked in the living room, or dips on the kitchen counter, or pull-ups in the bathroom doorway, or any of a number of grunting, sweaty movements around the apartment. Asami has explained many times at _length_ about how distracting it is to attempt working while someone is making noises like some kind of feral animal not three feet away. Korra swears up and down she doesn't make noises, and then proceeds to shove her feet under the couch and _make noises._

" _Korra._ "

"Eighty-two… yeah? Eighty-three…"

"I think eighty-three push-ups is reason enough to leave me be." 

Korra grunts. "I did two hundred yesterday, I'm not stopping at eighty… five… eighty-six…"

"Korra! You are not doing two hundred push-ups in the living room while I'm trying to _work_."

Sighing dramatically, the Water Tribe woman flops herself down on the floor. "I sit in a classroom all day, Asami. This—" She does a push-up to demonstrate, and Asami tries to ignore the pull of the absurdly defined muscles of her back. "—is the only reason I don't _murder_ someone." 

"It's _distracting_."

Korra props herself up on her elbows, eyeing Asami with uncharacteristic interest. "Why?" she asks, like it's an easy thing to answer. Asami figures it _should_ be, but she doesn't exactly want to tell Korra the reason. "I've seen you draw up designs for entire satomobiles while walking down the _street_. How am I more distracting than hundreds of strangers?" 

Asami watches as Korra stands up before she can even think to answer. "I'd like to think it's pretty obvious," she murmurs, appraising the strong line of Korra's neck, her shoulders, much broader than the average woman's.

"Well, we all know how oblivious I am," Korra says, and Asami realizes that she genuinely has no clue. That, or for once, she can't read the younger woman's expression. "Enlighten me."

 _I'd love to._ Asami thinks, but knows she's already going to overstep about twenty of the boundaries that confine their long friendship. She leans back in her chair, challenging Korra with her signature glare.

"Too easy—how about you guess? What could you _possibly_ be doing that's more distracting than a street full of people?"

For a moment, Korra actually seems to ponder this. She crosses her arms, and again Asami's faced with the monumental task of trying to ignore the way Korra's biceps bulge as she stands there. And that's really all she's doing, just _standing,_ but Asami can't pull herself together for long enough to regain the composure Korra's _back muscles_ had destroyed. To her credit, Korra actually picks up on her distress.

"What, is this the problem?" she says, and like the worst friend in the world, pulls an arm free to flex as if Asami isn't already having a inner conniption fit.

At this point, Asami is ready to do one of three things. She could easily leap out of her chair and try to strangle her friend, or, if Korra keeps finding muscles to flex, she could just as easily pass out. The third option is a little more farfetched. 

But, Asami does none of these things, just fights the urge to bite her lip and frowns up at the other woman.

"Hmm…" Korra muses, looking like more like an idiot than Asami can ever remember her looking. A _hot_ idiot, but that's besides the point.

"Maybe I'll wear a parka and long johns when I'm exercising around you. If this—" Her other arm joins its sister, and Asami grabs the arm of her chair to avoid… well, doing something stupid. "—is _so_ distracting."

For the life of her, Asami can't ever remember feeling this riled up, this tense. She wants to break something, she wants to scream, she wants to punch Korra in her stupid face—but she doesn't, just scowls harder, grips her chair, and tries not to explode. Maybe this is what Korra feels like all of the time, maybe this is why she constantly has to let off steam. Unfortunately, her "stress release" is the _most_ stressful part of Asami's day.

Korra's hands go to her hips, and she rolls her neck languidly, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "I guess I'm done for the day. Or maybe..." She glances down at her bare stomach, flexing her abdominal muscles, and grinning like a _complete asshole_ and Asami can't stop herself as her vision goes red and she lunges at Korra like she's ready to kill.

Luckily, Korra has the disadvantage, because Asami manages to effortlessly wrestle her to the floor and pin her arms down at her sides.

" _Stop,_ " Asami grits out, her lungs burning from the exertion, from the searing _frustration_ her friend is determined to cause her. Her voice breaks. "You need to _stop._ "

Never, not in all the years she's known Korra has she seen the other woman this terrified. Or, maybe "terrified" is the wrong word. Korra's pupils are blown out, her deep blue eyes wide and unblinking. Her mouth is hanging open and her chest is heaving and she's flushed all the way down her neck, and maybe Asami's initial assessment is dead wrong.

"I—" Korra manages, her usually confident voice cracking. "Stop what?"

"You know damn well what _,_ " Asami almost spits, feeling increasingly disconnected with her own brain as her blood boils, her heart pounds. She doesn't even know why she's this mad. "Don't you dare play stupid with me, Korra."

Korra wriggles underneath her, and Asami presses her arms down harder, digs her calves into Korra's thighs and is about ready to snap—and then Korra makes a noise. 

It's nothing like the the noises she makes while she's working out, it's not a noise Asami has ever heard come out of her. It's raw, it's vulnerable, and it sends all of the blood in Asami's body so quickly south that she's immediately overwhelmed with a feeling she's tried for years to subdue. Their eyes lock, Korra's face is red as a tomato, and her expression has only intensified, and it takes every single cell in Asami's body _not_ to complete the action her mind plays out.

Korra's eyes bore into her, almost… expectantly? Asami rethinks her emotions, and is about to consider something so drastically left-field it gives her whiplash, something that might be the greatest or worst idea she's ever had—

There's a knock on the door.

Asami shoves herself off of Korra so fast she sees stars. Her body does all the work for her, carrying her to the door where… Mrs. Ling, the next door neighbor stands. 

"Why hello Asami. Wonderful day we're having!"

Asami clears her throat, expertly covering her previously distressed expression with one of polite interest. "Hello Mrs. Ling, what can I do for you?"

"Well now, I was just mixing the wet ingredients for a cake I'm baking for my grandson and I realized that I only have half a cup of milk. You wouldn't happen to have any?"

 _Thank the spirits._ Asami thinks, relieved the old woman hasn't been robbed or broken anything important. Both had been situations Asami had been forced into in the past. "Of course, take the whole carton."

"Oh I couldn't—"

Suddenly, Asami has the overwhelming urge to get Mrs. Ling _out._ The woman can talk for ages, and the heat in her lower body hasn't exactly dissipated. She directs her toward the door, handing her the milk from the cooler. "Our pleasure. Think of it as payment for those wonderful cookies you baked last week."

Mrs. Ling looks bewildered, standing in the doorway again. "Why… thank you Asami! I'll bake some more for you two next week."

"Have a nice day!" 

With that, Mrs. Ling is gone behind the heavy wooden door, and Asami slumps against it for a moment, closing her eyes.

"Asami."

So much for a breather. She opens her eyes. Across the apartment, Korra is standing now, looking much more composed than when she'd been… incapacitated.

"What?"

"What just _happened_?"

"You distracted me."

Korra almost looks insulted. " _I_ distracted _you_?" She scoffs. "You pinned me down on the floor like you were going to—to…"

Asami raises an eyebrow.

Korra opens and closes her mouth a few times, looking more like a fish than a grown woman. Some of the irritation has faded, but she still can't help the clench in her stomach when her eyes meet Korra's again. "You know what—why don't you just say… well, _anything!"_

"Like what?" Asami asks, feeling increasingly empowered by the sight of Korra as a stuttering mess.

Korra, who looks like she's going to combust at any moment.

" _Fuck,_ Asami! What do you _want?_ You want me to tell you how much of a turn-on it was to get you so angry? You want me to tell you how badly I wanted you to start ripping my clothes off? You want me to elaborate on the fact that I've thought about ripping _your_ clothes off for _years_ , and suddenly _I'm_ the fascinating one?"

There's no more words after that, Asami can't take another second. She makes it across the apartment in four long strides, grips Korra's waist and kisses her— _hard._

Korra makes that keening noise against her lips, and Asami can only think to pull her closer, so that there's absolutely no space in between them. Korra's arms end up flung over Asami's shoulders and Asami takes the opportunity to run her hands along the thick muscles of Korra's back. Instantly, she regrets ever hindering any of Korra's workouts. 

It's about the most difficult thing she's ever done, but after what seems like an eon against Korra's lips, Asami pulls away. She takes in the situation, lungs burning and vision blurry, with great interest. Korra's lips are swollen, Asami's own lipstick smeared across them. She's breathing heavily as well, and her hands have made their way under Asami's shirt to caress the tender skin of her sides. Asami's hands, however, seem to have a mind of their own, but currently reside along the taut, heavily muscled plane of Korra's stomach. Asami decides that they'll stay there for the rest of eternity.

"I have an idea," Korra says breathlessly, her eyes darting from Asami's down to her lips.

"Hmm?" Asami responds, dipping down to kiss and nip at the corded muscles of Korra's neck.

For a moment, Korra doesn't speak, and Asami feels her grip tighten on her own heated skin. "How about—" She lets out a shivery sigh when Asami bites hard at the juncture of her neck. Asami makes a mental note. "Since you're already distracted, we go back to my room and stay in there for a few days?"

Asami lets out a breathy laugh against Korra's ear, and is rewarded with a barely suppressed shiver. "That _is_ an idea," she murmurs, tracing the muscles of Korra's stomach with her fingertips. "I'd venture to call it a _good_ idea. _Very_ good, even."

It's all the encouragement Korra needs, apparently. Asami's not expecting the hands that suddenly grab her ass and hoist her up. She gasps at the change and grips Korra's biceps (which also turns out to be a _very_ good idea) before wrapping her legs around the younger woman's waist and being carried away.

"See?" Korra says, grinning. "Exercise has its perks."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr, if you're bored: [bazaarwords](http://bazaarwords.tumblr.com)


End file.
